


biting my tongue all week

by Mars_and_Moon



Series: angsty backstory: casey parker edition [2]
Category: Grey's Anatomy, Grey's Anatomy: B-Team (Web Series)
Genre: Actually Dealing With Feelings, Gen, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, POV Original Character, Therapy, mentions of breakdowns, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 08:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17220452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_and_Moon/pseuds/Mars_and_Moon
Summary: Jace already told himself that he would allow Casey some slack this week, he deserved it.





	biting my tongue all week

**Author's Note:**

> title from: portions for foxes by rilo kiley  
> as usual: @writing_way_too_much edited this 
> 
> enjoy

Occasionally, Casey Parker wouldn’t talk during the therapy sessions. Quickly into their sessions, Doctor Jace Collins realized that it was not because Casey didn’t have anything to say. It was because, more often than not, he had far too much to say, but had no idea where to begin. Jace already told himself that he would allow Casey some slack this week though, he deserved it.

And even though it was Jace’s job as a therapist to encourage talking--which he did, very often--a silent Casey Parker wasn’t the worst one to deal with. An angry Casey Parker was far worse. Jace had gathered that knowledge from firsthand experience.

On the days of a mostly silent room, Jace would give leeway to about fifteen minutes of silence. After the time had passed, he would attempt to get Casey to talk about something. That tactic didn’t work often with Casey; often it would sink them further into a silence until Casey found a place to start.

“Casey?” Jace said, he tried to keep his voice soft, but let his tone hint that he somewhat need at least few words from Casey. He couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under Casey’s eyes; he hadn’t been sleeping well.

“I--” Casey tried, the words dying in his throat.  

“Would you like to talk about the weather?” Jace asked. At some point that question had started to have a double meaning between the two of them: _‘Would you like to leave early?’_. It wasn’t the first time he had a patient who couldn’t complete a session, and though Casey rarely took him up on the offer, it seemed like a small comfort to him.

Casey shook his head. “I got drunk and had a breakdown in a bar,” he said very quickly. It took Jace a moment to actually realize what Casey had said.

“Do you know what caused the breakdown?” Jace himself had a guess or two about what had caused the breakdown, but he waited patiently for Casey to respond.

“Yes. My friend picked me up and I talked to her about it.” Casey paused for a moment. “We talked about the relationship I had before I moved to Seattle. Not all of it, but some.”

Jace could feel a look of surprise find its way onto his face, but he quickly masked it though with a kind smile. “That’s good Casey. I’m glad you’re able to talk about her with someone.”

Casey gave a small smile, but they both knew it was more to show that he was paying attention and not losing himself in his thoughts, something that happened every now and then. Jace had set up the room in a comforting way like that.

“How was the rest of week?” Jace asked.

“Not as bad as I thought as it would be,” Casey said truthfully.

“So, what were the goals we decided on last week?” The goals in question were things that the two of them agreed that Casey would do the week following the appointment. They often ranged from mundane tasks, like picking up a prescription from the pharmacy, to more specific tasks, such as unpacking a certain box of old photographs from before Casey moved to Seattle that he had conveniently been ignoring for over a year.

“Make it through Thursday with breaking down, which I didn’t succeed in, considering I did it twice.” Jace raised on eyebrow at that, which seemed to remind Casey that he hadn’t talked about that other breakdown. Casey blatantly ignored the questioning look and continued listing off the agreed upon goals of the week.“Call my mom to remind her that I am, in fact, not dead, which I did. Three times, actually.”

“Wasn’t there another one?” Jace pressed lightly. Casey knew what Jace would be asking about, it was a goal that had been on the list for almost five months. So far, it was the only one that Casey consistently didn’t complete. Jace knew that statistically, Casey probably didn’t do it again, but he always hoped that week would be the one where the goal was met.

Judging by the way Casey’s eyes fell to the floor, this week was not the one.

“Well,” Jace said, glancing down subtly at his watch, the session was over in minute. “That’s alright, maybe next week.”

“Maybe,” Casey echoed, obviously not believing it.

“That’s all the time we have today, Casey. But I’ll see you next week?”

Casey nodded, slowly moving to stand up off of the chair. He said a quiet goodbye to Jace and left.

 _Maybe next week_ , Jace thought once he was alone. _Just maybe_.

**Author's Note:**

> alternative title: casey parker talks to an Actual Licensed Professional Unlike Most People On This Show 
> 
> this is officially a series!! because i don't have enough of those already!! 
> 
> comments & kudos


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